Uniscan Walkers Showroom - handy for Staffordshire and Cheshire folk

Our best selling walking aid is the Uniscan

 3 wheeled walking frame.

Where can I buy a uniscan rollator with a seat?

If you want a local Uniscan Showroom that is in easy reach of both Staffordshire and Cheshire and the wider West Midlands region then call us or visit one of our friendly showrooms in the Potteries.  We also stock other home mobility aids that you could try or maybe just upgrade your walking stick to a newer model at the same time?  The technical specifications of the Uniscan model can be found on our website.

Here's our resident Stairlifts Doctor - Dr. Neil Stirling MBChB who at 86 years old doesn't need one of these walkers yet, but is willingly available to demonstrate how good they look as a helpful lifestyle accessory for some of his friends and colleagues at Richmond Court in Nantwich, Cheshire.

What do you get to help with your walking?

This walking aid is easily our best known and most popular rollator.  It actually has 4 wheels as one of the wheels at the front is a double for durability and stability on turning. Here below on the video you can see Malcolm senior engineer at Castle Comfort Centre showing you how it all works, but don't worry you don't need to be an engineer to drive one. They are very lightweight yet strong and surprisingly simple to operate. If you have ever ridden a bicycle then you will understand how the brakes work.

The brakes click down to secure the rear wheels so it cannot be pushed further forward.  Combine that with the folding catch to secure it and the fold up seat and that's all there is to it - a wonderfully designed piece of equipment to make your life just that little bit easier.  You get a walking stick holder built-in to the frame, and also a handy carry bag to stow away shopping too.

Are they heavy?

Uniscan Walkers were the very first company to market with a foldable lightweight walker with a seat.  Proudly made in Britain they are strong and also light enough to lift with a single hand and stow in the passenger footwell of a motor car, or in the boot for when travelling.

We always carry stock of these walking frames which are more adaptable and have a tighter turning circle than the aluminium zimmer frame that most people will be familiar with.  In our opinion they also look a whole lot better too. Our best sellers are the blue (illustrated on the video) and the burgundy framed models, but they are available in 3 other colours on special order, if you wanted us to match it in to your own car for example.

>> Click here << to see where we are if you want to try one in the showroom  

Alternatively just give us a call on 01782 611411 or 01782 631111and we can bring one out to the home for you to try.  Once we have got the height adjusted on the handlebars for you, and you are familiar with how it folds and unfolds then you can keep it if it suits you. See you soon.

Mobility Products Cheshire

Mobility Products Shops in Cheshire

This feature (like its sister mobility blog) has had the most amazing response in our history of our Internet bulletins.

In just over three weeks, we have had more mobility products enquiries than ever - with folk searching for help and advice on home aids from lots of towns and villages. Read on to find out just how many have found us.

As expected, most of them come from Stoke on Trent as that is where our mobility products showroom is located.
Take a look below to see how near we are to those making the short journey from south Cheshire.

(In fact there have been over 180 as we write)  ... almost 100 from Newcastle under Lyme and a total of 125 enquiries from some of Cheshire's main towns: Including Wilmslow, Congleton,Alderley Edge, Macclesfield and Sandbach with a handful of contacts from residents of small villages and hamlets that, we confess,  we have never even heard of!

Acton Bridge, Cheshire rings a bell, but some places with strange names really puzzled us - for example - Antrobus, Bruera, Soss Moss, (near Macclesfield, and famous we now learn, for a 16th century hall and a hospital.  Then we have obscure place names such as  Prior's Heys, Wimbold's Trafford, Saughall and Tilston.  Bucklow Hill is a touch more familiar, but the hamlet Dawpool is previously unheard of.

However, we are informed by a recently acquired customer of Castle Comfort Mobility , a Mr Ernest Greenun, that - Coole Pilate  is indeed famous. At least it will be to to many 2nd world war veterans, as this parish (of just 60 residents now) was where a Home Guard platoon was based.

Finally,Capenhurst (home of a 50 metre communications tower controlled by the American communications giant Urenco ) certainly had the staff at Castle Comfort practising on their sat navs to locate these places.

Brochures were posted out for a huge variety of home help aids to all who contacted us, and it is expected that soon home visits and deliveries of products will soon be made along some of the lesser-known country lanes in the delightful county of Cheshire. And as this comment section was being compiled, a telephone call came in from the bizarrely titled hamlet of Golborne Bellow and another enquiry from the web landed  from Ince village - near Ellesmere Port.   

A noteable conclusion to these comments... and we thought this enquiry was a wind-up, was from a retired farmer in Cheshire seeking some mobility socks for his incapacitated wife. HE GAVE HIS ADDRESS AS STOKE IN CHESHIRE!!  There is a Stoke in Cheshire which is in fact a hamlet near Nantwich with a population of about 20. The name Stoke incidentally, means "hamlet", from the Anglo-Saxon meaning place - a fact that few Stoke on Trent residents are aware of.

It is quite a fascinating experience discovering the existence of these places in Cheshire, so us Stokies, (though we don´t like this description of us)  or Castleblacks - consulted our our old friend Wikipedia, for a comprehensive list. Here it is.

So if you live in Cheshire, and we (or Wiki in their article) have missed off your place please tell us. Here's our main list to add to the list of smaller places already mentioned.

Alderley Edge, Cheshire
Betley, Cheshire
Broadbottom, Cheshire
Cheadle, Cheshire
Chester, Cheshire
Congleton, Cheshire
Crewe, Cheshire
Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
Frodsham, Cheshire
Hollingworth, Cheshire
Knutsford, Cheshire
Lymm, Cheshire
Macclesfield, Cheshire
Madeley Heath, Cheshire
Malpas, Cheshire
Middlewich, Cheshire
Nantwich, Cheshire
Neston, Cheshire
Northwich, Cheshire
Onneley, Cheshire
Runcorn, Cheshire
Sandbach, Cheshire
Stockport, Cheshire
Tarporley, Cheshire
Warrington, Cheshire
Widnes, Cheshire
Wilmslow, Cheshire
Winsford, Cheshire
Woore, Cheshire
Wrinehill, Cheshire

Our sister mobility products blog will soon have it's own study of lesser known places in Staffordshire, that enquiries for mobility aids has come from. So any comments or requested for contributions will be received with thanks.

Mobility Aids in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire plus Cheshire, Derbyshire & Shropshire

There are tens of thousands of them. What! mobility products? (Also known as daily living aids) Yes, there are a lot of those. Too many to count. But also, tens of thousands in fact hundreds of thousands of people in the counties of Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire and Shropshire (aka Salop) who need them.

Nobody knows  more than the staff at mobility products specialists CASTLE COMFORT CENTRE, of Newcastle under Lyme, who have been involved in the supply of daily living aids since 1998. Their speciality flagship products are STAIRLIFTS, RISER RECLINER CHAIRS AND ELECTRIC BEDS, (see some of their clients here happily being filmed) but over the years a very special free service has evolved which helps you locate and purchase any of the many gadgets and aids that are needed for disabled people (or those folk simply getting on a little.)

Of the latter - there are simply millions - and members of the sector who may be  fit and healthy for their ages - but maybe in need of a little assistance (just as an older car or machine may need a bit of extra servicing and attention) we affectionately call  THE GREY MARKET.

Back to the grey market shortly (or indeed the 'Silver Surfers') but the disabled sector is a little more defined and accounted for in terms of  statistics.

Disability and employment - some stats for those interested ...

1. There are currently 1.3 million disabled people in the UK who are available for and want to work.
2. Only half of disabled people of working age are in work (50%), compared with 80% of non disabled people.
3. 23% of disabled people have no qualifications compared to 9% of non disabled people.
4. Nearly 1 in 5 people of working age (7 million, or 18.6%) in Great Britain have a disability.

Source:DLF

The ageing population

Over the last 25 years the percentage of the population aged 65 and over increased from 15 per cent in 1983 to 16 per cent in 2008, an increase of 1.5 million people in this age group. Over the same period, the percentage of the population aged 16 and under decreased from 21 per cent to 19 per cent. This trend is projected to continue. By 2033, 23 per cent of the population will be aged 65 and over compared to 18 per cent aged 16 or younger.

The fastest population increase has been in the number of those aged 85 and over. In 1983, there were just over 600,000 people in the UK aged 85 and over. Since then the numbers have more than doubled reaching 1.3 million in 2008. By 2033 the number of people aged 85 and over is projected to more than double again to reach 3.2 million, and to account for 5 per cent of the total population. Source:DLF

The Disability equipment market

The total UK disability equipment market has been estimated at £1.46 billion for 2008 compared with £1.34 billion the previous year. Sales of disabled equipment in the UK have increased by 92.6% over the last 10 years and the total market size increased by 9.2% last year.  Castle Comfort Group since 1997 have been and important player UK-wide in the supply of products to the 'gray market' and the disability sectors. However the policy of the company has always been to focus on their major flagship products, namely stairlifts, riser recliner chairs and adjustable beds

THIS DOES NOT MEAN THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OR INVOLVEMENT WITH THOUSANDS OF OTHER ITEMS THAT ARE NEEDED.

Castle Comfort's experience means that a quick call to any of their help lines, or a visit to the showrooms will result in details being given where these other smaller products can be found ...

AT WHOLESALE 
OR 
DIRECT-FROM-THE-MANUFACTURER PRICES. 

Usually all that is needed is a freephone call by the customer direct to the supplier with the description and reference.

The goods will be delivered by courier, usually without charge in just a day or two. 

Payment can be made on delivery in many cases, or by plastic card on ordering. 

Buyers are also covered by what is know as 'distance selling regulations' which means that the product can be returned to the supplier without any obligation or cost. 

So apart from getting any of the following items cheaper (as a mobility shop is not involved making a necessary profit) - you can return them if you wish - and THAT is something you may not be able to do on the High Street.

Retail shops only have to make a refund if the goods are faulty or otherwise  'not fit for their purpose'  Many people are surprised at this as the policies of retailers like Marks and Spencer "bring it back if you wish for your money back" - are not a legal right at all - they just choose to offer it as a sales gimmick.

So here, as promised, is the beginning of  what may be a long long list of things that YOU - or your family need.

AND FOR FREE ADVICE ON HOW TO LOCATE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING AT THE BEST PRICE -  
just contact Castle Comfort on 0800 007 6959
up to 11pm any evening - 7 days per week.

A commode (small or large commodes)

Crutches
Commodes
Zimmer frame  (or Zimmer frames on wheels)
Dillonguards
Slippers for problematic feet
Can opener for arthritis sufferers
Phone with large buttons (including mobile telephones with large buttons)
Cot side inc single or double cot sides

GRAB HANDLES which may a grab handle for anywhere in the house.  Also known as GRAB BARS  (Source Wikipedia)

Wheelchair hire
Wheelchair cushions
Stool for the shower - and even stools for the bath
Seat cushions
Pingaba braces
Walking without wheels frames
Scooter covers
Scooter cushions
Table for bed or chair (often known as over beds tables)
Remote control lamp
Sensitive or sensitivity lamps / lights
Slippers for the disabled
Socks for the disabled

Dog Alarm
Shoes for the disabled
Hand vice
Booster cushion
Radar Keys
Raised toilet seats
Extra-wide easy fasten slippers
Back scratchers (don't forget to look at this!)

An interlude on Backscratchers in Stoke on Trent.

IT MAY BE THAT YOU DO NO HAVE TO SPEND YOUR CASH ON SPECIFIC MOBILITY OR  SPECIFIED HOME-AID THINGS -

OFTEN A SUBSTITUTE IS  MORE EASILY AVAILABLE AND LESS COSTLY.

Back Scratchers.

In 1999, Keith, the founder of Castle Comfort, asked Christine Morgan (his former school friend Christine Evans, of the Edward Orme School Newcastle under Lyme, the following  - "Where can a long handled back scratcher be found for one of our customers?"

Christine was at at Disability Solutions, Hanley, Stoke on Trent at the time. She told me to get a long handle shoe horn. It proved to be good advice and we have since helped cure many itching backs!  They work a treat and cost a lot less than designated products with labels as ´back scratchers´to be sold in mobility shops.   These can be obtained from many 'pound shops' and other places often run by the Chinese community, often for less that a pound. "Thanks for the tip Christine,"  said Keith. "I have learnt a lot since I left school!"

For an alternative backscratcher, and if you can get near enough, try one of the following! These 'super dooper' back scrathchers were spotted in action at The Great Orme near Llandudno North Wales. The cashmiri goats put on an amazing show for passers-by when they have an itch, scratching away.  Did you know  that these goats  were a gift to Queen Victoria from the Shah of Persia?

More of the products we find useful as we get older:-

Holder for car disabled passes
Blue Badge holders (click on 'blue' for info on this subject)
..and read here how some people are treated badly in this respect

Indoor walkers with trays
Tunstall emergency call buttons
Outdoor key boxes
Key guard box
Folding walking sticks
Bath steps
Grabbers
Easy reach grabbers
Canvas cushions
Foldable walking sticks
Dillonguards
Pill organiser
Automatic pill organisers
Pull ring can opener
Shower easy
Ramps
Wheelchair ramps
Tiller bags
Pingabraces
Padded leg rest
Swivel cushion
Memory foam cushions

Whatever your need we can help you. Call us on 08000 832797 or call in to our Stoke on Trent showooms today.